Article of manufacture



Dec. 11, 1923. v

S. L. SMITH ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE Filed May 10 INVENTOR I ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 11, 1923.

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To all whom may mm 1t known that I," SAMUEL L. SMITH,

citizen ofthe United-States; residing at bicycle or tricycle, saidelements consisting of a front section, two r'earsec't1onsand iii) Ellensburg in thdcounty of Kittitas'and State'- of Washingtonfhave invented a oer tain new and usefullmprovementfin Articles of which the "ffollow'ving is T vided with ";circumfere iitial "corrugations .and th at 'are "rigidly secured" tdgether with .theirlconcave-sides adjacent to each other of Manura'cture,

M intention relates to improvements in an articlekif manufacture and the object of my 1nvention' 1s to pIOVlCl8 an article or manufact'ure"comprising elements that may quickly 'an'di easi'ly converted "into a three disc wheels and" a seat which" sections,

wheels andseat'may be sold as a unit whereby the purchaser may either coii'vert the article intoa bicycle or a tricycle" as Another object is to provide a readily convertible vehicle that is" strong and durable in its planof construction, thatsvilhwithstand ai-great amount 'o'fkrough usage; and thatis notexpensive to ma'nr'ifa'cture.

*A further object is 'to' providenovel and readily releasable means" for remiss bear--- ings for the "pedal or crankshaft axles of the front wheel said bearing means permitting the pedal cranks-to be formed integral with the 'beaiing'fishaft of the wheel and {further permittingbushings to be readily inserted in "theevent the bearings become worn. a

Other and more specific objects will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompany ng drawings. I 7

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 1s a view in side elevation of a" vehicle constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig". 2 1s a plan VIQW Of the same, the

bicycle attachment being shown by full as a bicycle, comprises in part a front wheel plan viewof a part 6 and a rear wheel and which, when it v I used as aljtrijcy'cle', comprises in" part the same "front wheel '6 an-a red spaced' apart rear wheels 8. that aresiniilartdth rear.

- The; front wheel 6 is preferably formed; of"

twdeoncavoeonvex meta l'discs thatare 'pro so thattheyfform a wh'elrthe greatest wrath of which is at the 'loca't ioniof' thehub The peripheral portions ofthe discs are-bent to" site sides of the wheel to' form crank shafts ll whe'reona're provided pedals'm. 13-"i s a'combiiied "fol lfandsteering post formed of 'a sing'le piece ofclian'nel' shaped metal'bent double and of substantially the" shape shown in'Ei'gs. land 2. The fork is providefciliat the lower ends with bearing members each formedof twojseparate pieces one of saidpiece'shavinga recessedupper' portion :14 that rs-arranged to fit over and be securely 'rive'tedfto" the end bf. the f ork having a "semi-circularbearing member l5' forh fedon'its' lower-ens and the' 'oth'er of i said pie ces beingsecui eil t of thei firstT named piece at its upper endby a pivot 16 and-at its lower end by a screw 17 and having a semi-circular bearing portion 18 arranged opposite to and co-operating with; the bearing member 15.

Removal of the screw 17 will permit the bearing member 18 to swing outwardly in an obvious manner so that the forklportion 13 may readily be connected withor detached from the front wheel. 1f the bearing becomes Worn the screw 17 may be removed and bushing material as leather may beina serted to compensate for the wear. The combined fork and steering post portion'13 is provided at the upper end with 1 a rigid handle bar member 20 and is further provided just above the periphery of the wheel 6 with a bracket 21 that serves as a rigid cross brace or tie member between the 2 two sides of said fork portion and thathas; rearwardly protruding upper and lower lugs 22 and 23 that are perforated for the reception of'a vertical pin or boltQ. The' bolt 24 is 1 also arranged to pass through perforated lugs 25 on the forward end of a bracket -memberb-26 the lugs 25 being'ar use of children as a plaything and 1s espe? ranged to fit between the. lugs 22 and '23 all as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, sothat the bracket member'is pivotally secured to the fork portion of the vehicle. The rear end of the bracket member 26 has an enlarged 1' portion 27 for adjustably receiving a post 28 whereona seat 29 may be mounted.

Secured to: opposite sides of the, bracket member 26 are two rearwardlyFprotruding frame pieces, which may diverge slightlyas do the pieces 30 shown by full lines in Fig. 2, to afford room for thesingle wheel? 1 and to thereby'fiorm arbicy cle, or which may diverge;more-widely as do the pieces 31,

,shown by, broken lines in Fig; 2,; and have "i so I Theiramepieces SO lEorming the bicycle attachment are preferably secured togetherjust above the wheel 7 by'a cross bracket 33 andthe wheel 7 is mounted rfor rotation. on a bearing pin 34: that extends crosswise T through the ends of the frame pieces 30.;

The rear wheels are all of identical construction and are formed, in substantlally the same manner asthe larger: front wheel from two. concavo-convex 'dlSCSBl: of err- "-cumferentially corrugated metal that are provided with a peripherally disposed tire {3.) of rubber or similar resilient material.

7 The vehicle isofiered forv sale as a unit including one of the rear tricycle frame parts and one of the rear blcycle i'rame parts andeither two or three of the rear wheels. 7 The vehlcle may be readily converted from a' blcycle to .a tricycle, or vlce versa by removing one. rear part, and attaching the other] Oneseat and tworear wheels may be 'The device is primarily intended-forthe cially attractive for the reason that it enables the owner'to have either a bicycle or a tricycle at will for only a slight cost in excess of the price oi either one singly.

From the foregoing description taken connection with the accompanying drawings the advantages of theconstruction.and of a. the method of operation otmy device willbe f readily apparentto those ski'lled'in the art to which my inventiongrelates, and while I have described the principle of operation of my invention together with thedevice' which V w I now consider'tobe' the bestl embodiment thereofyl desire to have it understood that the device shownismerely illustrative and that-suchchanges maybe made when desired as are within thescope of the inven- 1 I V V I I tion. r I v 'l/Vhat I claim is:

: An; article of manufacturecomprising, a seat a front section hav ng means for attaching' a largew heel, a rear section having means for attachlng two small wheel's, an-

other rear section having means for attach-' ing one small wheel, one largewheel and two smallrwheels, means on saidfront section adapted to receive either one of the rear sections, means on SaId tWOI'BiII' SGC- 'tions for receiving said seat,means on said front section for receiving said large wheel, means upon one of said rear sections for receiving saidtwo small wheelsandmeans on the other rear section for receiving-one of said two small wheels..

In witness whereof, Ihereunto subscribe.

my name this 5th dav of 'May; A. D. 1922.

SAMUEL SMITH. v 5 

